Darwin house prices hit record high

The REINT’s Real Estate Local Market report reveals that median house prices in greater Darwin have risen 3.4 per cent in the June quarter to $612,000. This is also an increase of 7.4 per cent compared to this time last year.

Median unit prices have risen 9.2 per cent to $464,000 in the June quarter and 6.7 per cent on a yearly comparison.

Median weekly rents in greater Darwin have also increased on a yearly comparison, with the weekly median rent of a three-bedroom house rising 17.1 per cent to $656 a week and a two-bedroom unit rising 18.6 per cent to $485.

REINT president Quentin Kilian told Real Estate Business the June quarter had shown a bounce back in sales volume.

“While I’ve always tried to avoid a comparison of median prices in Darwin against the major capital cities, the result has put it in the same price range as Sydney now,” he said. “The underlying trend in all of this is simply supply and demand."

Mr Kilian said the factors driving the growth in the area had been the surge in economic activity in the area from mining and construction in recent years. However, he added that successive governments in the last decade had failed to prepare for this surge.

“Next year’s expected growth could be as high as seven per cent. The HIA [Housing Industry Association] says that in order to meet current demand, we should be producing about 200 to 2,200 properties per annum. At the moment, we’re pushing out, if we’re lucky, about 700 or 800 per annum, so we’re nowhere near meeting current demand - let alone what might come out if a number of these big projects come off.”